Welcome to Bali! – Magical Pura Tanah Lot

After my Solo Travel to Malaysia, I met my friend and we went to Bali.
Bali is just wonderful, even though there are many tourists, you will still find some nice lonely beaches and spots. Today I will be sharing with you a lot of pictures of our afternoon trip to the west coast of Bali where we visited the famous temple Pura Tanah Lot. The temple is located in the sea, not far away from the coast. By the way, „Tanah“ means land and „Lot“ means sea. To enter the area around the Temple, you will have to pay a 60K entrance fee (IDR). After having paid this fee, you will have to walk through a huge market with lots of different shops in order to get to the temple. The temple itself is really beautiful and I can highly recommend going there in the evening, since the sunset behind the temple is really beautiful.

You will not regret having visited the temple, since it will only take approximately 40 minutes to get there from the Kuta area and this place is really magical!
After having taken some pictures of the coast and the area, we went to a nice spot above the temple where you can have young coconuts and drinks.
On our way to the spot, we discovered a Kopi Luwak café but we did not want to try the coffee. This type of coffee „includes part-digested coffee cherries eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet“. To be honest, not really my favourite type of coffee…

Anyway, I can highly recommend visiting Tanah Lot! After our little trip we asked our driver if he could bring us to a fruit store and we bought Papayas, Mangos, Snake ‚Fruits and a Dragon Fruit for almost no money. What I really love about South East Asia is the cheap fruit. Make sure to try local fruit stores and have street fruit as well!

The entrance

Asian palm civet

Us: „Oh we have never seen such a huge bat!“ Guy next to us: „Oh I can imagine, but it’s a flying fox by the way…“ – Oops … (Bad camera settings, bad conditions – Sorry!)

The temple

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, please ignore grammar mistakes, I had a surf day trip today and almost fell asleep while writing this blogpost.

Have a good week,
Sophie

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Surf Camp Preparation & Travel related DIYs #2

When I was 7, I watched a movie about surfing. Since then, I always wanted to learn to surf. I already got my Wind-Surfing-License and went surfing in Turkey for two weeks twice. The header picture was taken in 2015 when I went to Turkey during the summer holidays.
However, my main goal was and still is to learn Surfriding without any sails or kites. Just me my board and the wave. This dream will come true in October, since I will spend a month in Indonesia, a three week Surf Camp will be included.

Today, I would like to talk about my Surf Camp preparation and also share with you my second Travel related DIY.
First of all, I pondered over a plan where every muscle will be trained effectively, in order to be in great shape when I will start surfing.
No, it is not about getting that „perfectly shaped bikini body“, it is about strength and endurance.
Consequently, I combined outdoor cardio with strength training at the gym.
I decided to give myself the opportunity to choose between swimming and running and I also split the training at the gym into „leg day“ and „upper body.“
Very simple but I got the most out of it.

Since it is commonly known that anticipation is half the fun, I also followed this workout plan because it made me feel like I am already travelling at some point.
Of course the weight and the repetitions always depend on my physical condition but I always tell myself: „You already made it to the gym, now don’t waste the time – ROCK THIS WORKOUT!“

One week plan may look like this:

This plan is my personal plan so you can adjust the weight and the reps. What I love about this plan that I do not have to go to the gym too often and do the same things. I also love switching between different types of cardio. Additionally, I can highly recommend to go swimming the day after an intense workout. Swimming relaxes my muscles and simply feels good!

Anyway, you may have noticed that I included „Balance Board Training“ which leads me to my second Travel related DIY: A Balance Board for -you won’t believe it- balance training. Many surfers use this tool to be able to improve their balance and buy expensive Balance Boards. I really wanted to try this type of training but I did not want to spend over 100€ for it so I bought some stuff to craft my own board.

For the DIY Balance Board you need:

• a piece of (birch-)wood 90x60x2,5-3cm (I prefer birchwood since it is solid wood)
• two pieces of to support the board and to edge the area where the pipe rolls
• a robust pipe with a diameter of ca. 10,5cm
• an over-knee sock where you can put in the pipe in order to prevent the pipe from slipping
• wood glue
• a jigsaw
• a normal saw
• 10 screws that are not longer than 4,5cm (if your wood is 2,5cm thick)
• a drill
• a pencil
• a tape measure
• a yoga mat (optional)

1. Decide what shape your board shall have and paint it on the wooden panel. I chose a fish board shape.

2. Use the jigsaw (CAREFULLY!! And read the instructions first!) to cut out the board. You can also use a normal saw but a jigsaw will save you a lot of time

3. Measure the width of your board, is 50cm wide. Now you cut your pipe with a normal saw, it should be as long as the width of your board.

4. You can now put the pipe into your over-knee sock.

5. Now you want to make sure that the board does not slip away when you step on the complete balance board. Consequently, we now cut two 5-7cm pieces of wood that are as long as the width of our board. (I hope you know what I mean, just scroll down to see what I mean)

6. If you are happy with your wood pieces and your board you can use wood glue to glue the wood pieces to the underneath of your board. This step will make your construction more secure and robust.

7. After the glue is dry, you can use a drill to fix your little „pipe barriers“. Make sure that the length of your screws is not longer than the thickness of your barriers and the board.

If you want to, you can sandpaper the edges of your board in order to prevent scratches etc.. I would also recommend using a yoga mat and a bare or a chair to support yourself if you step on your board the first time. Please make sure that your muscles are warmed up to prevent injuries.
I am not a professional, I do not take any responsibility for your Balance Boards if you try this.
This DIY works for me, I am just sharing my ideas here. Please be careful if you try this, sine it can be very dangerous if you do not pay attention.

Although it may be a little hard at the beginning, Balance Board Training is very effective and you really get a surf feeling at some point.
It is also easy to use because at first it is just about standing on the board and preventing it from touching he ground, which is harder than it may seem.

Hopefully, you like this post and maybe you can incorporate parts of the workout into your workout routine. Please let me know what you think about this DIY and tell me if you have ever taken part in a Surf Camp.

Have a wonderful week,
Sophie

 

 

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What to do in Indonesia

Indonesien liegt im Indischen Ozean unter Malaysia und ist mit seinen 17508 (!!!) Inseln der größte Inselstaat der Welt. Außerdem ist Indonesien der Staat mit der größten muslimischen Bevölkerung.

Mich zieht es nach Bali und Lombok, die Nachbarinseln von Java.
Dies sind wahrscheinlich mit die typischsten Ziele, jedoch ist das ganze Land mit einer Aufenthaltserlaubnis von 30 Tagen nur schwer zu erkunden.
Ich hoffe sehr, dass ich in ein paar Jahren nochmal einen längeren Aufenthalt planen kann, wo ich mir dann auch Sumatra und Java anschauen kann, vor allem weil ich Freunde und Bekannte in Bandung habe.

Heute möchte ich euch meine to do Liste zeigen, mit den primären Zielen auf meiner Reise nach Indonesien, bzw. auf Bali:

1. Surfen lernen

Wellenreiten ist mein absoluter Kindheitstraum! Ich habe zwar einen Windsurfschein, jedoch reicht mir das nicht und es fehlt etwas der Nervenkitzel… (was wahrscheinlich auch daran liegt, dass das Mittelmeer eher ruhig ist)
Deshalb habe ich mich für ein Surfcamp auf Bali entschieden, wo ich drei Wochen lang surfen lernen werde und gleichzeitig noch die Insel erkunden kann. Das Camp ist in Seminyak, nicht weit von Cangu entfernt.

2. Yoga

Ich liebe Yoga und praktiziere es leider viel zu selten! Jedoch reizt es mich total, in eines der tollen Yoga Studios auf Bali zu gehen und ein paar Yoga Sessions in freier Natur mitzumachen!

3. Vegan Food Guides schreiben

Ich bin seit 3 Jahren Vegetraierin (bis auf 3 Wochen wo ich meinte ich müsste jetzt mal wieder Fleisch ausprobieren und es im Endeffekt einfach nicht geklappt hat) und liebe vegane Küche!
Deshalb ist es mein Ziel, einen Vegan Food Guide während meiner Reise zu kreieren und so viele Vegan Spots mitzunehmen, wie es der Geldbeutel und die Laune zulassen!
Ein Restaurant, welches ich unbedingt besuchen möchte, ist das Peloton Supershop in Cangu:

by @lucetteromy

4. Tempel und Reisfelder erkunden

Bali ist berühmt für seine sattgrünen Reisterrassen! Diese werden zum Teil noch in mühsamer Handarbeit an den Hängen der Berge angelegt uns sind meiner Meinung nach absolut sehenswert, wie auch der Rest der Insel. Ich möchte unbedingt auch den Norden und das Zentrum Balis erkunden, da sich das Tourismus Leben ja hauptsächlich im Süden Balis abspielt.

http://www.bali-reisemagazin.de/

5. Roller fahren

Ich muss zugeben, ich bin noch nie Roller gefahren, da es mir in Deutschland schlichtweg zu gefährlich ist und ich dann doch lieber auf mein Gas betriebenes Cabrio zurückgreife. (Ich werde mich davon aber hoffentlich bald verabschieden können, immerhin schadet es meinem ökologischen Fußabdruck zusätzlich zur Fliegerei enorm!)
Nichtsdestotrotz würde ich zu gerne die Straßen Balis mit einem Roller erkunden- etwas klischeehaft, aber bestimmt toll!

6. Happy Hippie Canggu

Zu guter Letzt reizt mich das Hippie-Viertel Canggu sehr, da es so viele tolle Restaurants bieten soll und bekannt für seinen Hippie Flair ist!

Ich hoffe, Euch hat meine to do Liste gefallen!

Bis bald,
Sophie

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Indonesia is located in the Indian Ocean and it is the world’s biggest insular state, since it consists of 17508 islands! Personally I have always been very interested in Indonesia, since I have friends in Bandung. 
Unfortunately, the residence permit is limited to 30 days only, consequently I am going to visit Bali and Lombok and hopefully will be able to travel to Indonesia again in a couple of years maybe.

Today I will be sharing with you my to do list for our Bali trip:

1. How to surf- Surfcamp in Seminyak

For as long as I can remember, surfing was one of my biggest dreams! I already have a windsurfing license but I guess it is not as thrilling as catching waves!
We’ve decided to do a three-week Surfcamp in Seminyak, which is not far from Cangu.

2. Doing Yoga

I really enjoy doing yoga, although I do not practice it on a regular basis. Nevertheless it really appeals to me to do some yoga in the nature!
(Sorry, this may sound a little happy hippie)

3. Creating vegan Food Guides and enjoying a plant based diet

I am vegetarian for three years now and I am a vegan food lover!
Therefore I would like to create a „Vegan Food Guide“ during my journey, in order to try as many vegan dishes as possible!
One of the restaurants I would love to visit is the Peloton Supershop in Cangu!

4. Exploring Temples and Bali’s rice terraces

Bali is very famous for its rice terraces! These are mostly handcrafted and I expect them to be very impressive!
Additionally I ponder over exploring the northern parts of Bali. However I am very afraid that we will be running out of time if we don’t set priorities…

5. Exploring the island on two wheels

I have to admit that I have never driven a scooter in Germany, since I think it is far to dangerous here. Though I would love to try exploring the island on a vintage scooter, although it is a little clichéd…

6. Canggu

Last but not least, I really like to visit the hippie quarter Canggu, since it is known for its great restaurants and the hippie flair!

I hope you enjoyed my little to do list, I’ll keep you updated!

Love,
Sophie